a bleeding purple utah jazz blog

Off-Day Bits

Kevin O’Connor**Is experience helping Tyrone Corbin improve as a coach? You know, I, I, I think there are guys that are, that, you know, that are naturally good at something, and I think he’s got that, that ability. So, is he gonna get better? Sure. Don’t we all get better with some experience? But I think there’s guys that have a natural ability to do something, whether it’s swing a golf club, whether it’s, you know, swing a baseball bat. You know, I don’t think Mike Trout swung his, you know, the baseball player, y–y–you know, he took as many swings as somebody in, in Triple-A, but he’s just gifted, you know, and I think, I, I, I believe Ty’s got that, that ability.

Tyrone Corbin**On the validity of the numbers Enes Kanter has been putting up: They’re true numbers. You know, they’re true numbers. You may look at, he’s playing against second team guys or some guys that’s trying out for teams, but he’s working his butt off, man. I think what he’s doing is real for him.

**On the Portland game: They made shots against us in Portland, especially the guys spread the floor [and] made three-point shots, but I don’t think the first part of our defense was as good as it has been. Maybe the guys a little beat up.

**What do you want to see in the last preseason game? We gotta continue to grow. We gotta continue to see combinations, get comfortable with each other, and make sure we feel good about where we are coming out of training camp.

**On the Jazz’s continued free throw woes: We gotta get better. We gotta get better.

**Do you still have any questions about the team? Well, the combinations and the, you know, we have minutes and guys and how we’re going to respond to that and, and just staying focused on the prize of winning games and getting better as a team. And, and when all the other dynamics get into it, about minutes, and shots, and points, and that stuff, and outside influences, and can we stay together and fight our way through those times, and somebody’s going good and somebody else’s minutes are struggling a little, down a little bit, and staying in it, and just keep working, and wait for the opportunity of being ready.*

* This answer is the winner of today’s “Randy Rigby Award for a Legitimate People’s Answer to a, then, Question.”

Randy Foye**On minutes: You seeing a little bit through preseason, you know, who’s going to get the minutes or whatever, but I look at it as, you know, whoever’s got it going. I’m that person, if a guy has it going, you know, leave him in the game, you know? If he has it going and the team is clicking, leave him in the game. And it’s the same way, vice versa.

**On Corbin’s emphasis on defense: A lot of times, you’re seeing our shots from most of the guys probably struggle at the end, because practice has been all defense, you know? It’s been, you know, we’ve been working on defense, working on shell drill, and we been working on things that build a championship team.